Sound producing devices



Jan. 29, 1963 s. CRAFT 3,075,317

SOUND PRODUCING DEVICES Filed March 7. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 424 FIG.6 20- 7 Z ll FIG.7

, a 20%,. l fzceK Unite States SOUND PRODUCING DEVICES Sydney Craft, London, England, assignor to Musical Reeds Limited Filed Mar. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 93,951 '4 Claims. (Cl. 46-180) FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view on the line IlL-IH of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectionalyiew of part of a toy incorporating the device of FIGURES 1 to 3;

FIGURE 5 is an axial section through an alternative form of sound producing'device;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the device shown in FIG- URE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an end view of another form of sound producing device;

FIGURE 8 is an elevation, partially sectional, of a soft toy incorporating the device shown in FIGURE 5.

The sound producing device illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 3 comprises a tubular housing one part of which is an open-ended tube 5, moulded from a suitable plastic composition, that is, one being elastically expansible, which tapers slightly in diameter both internally and externally from one end to the other. At its wider end the tube is formed with an externally projecting annular flange 6, one face of which is conically bevelled, as shown.

Fitting within the tube is a generally cylindrical resilient plug 7, also moulded from a plastic composition, of such diameter that it can be inserted through the larger end of the tube and becomes wedged within the tapering bore of the latter on reaching a point about midway of the length of the tube. The plug includes a'cylindrical outer wall 8, a chordally directed wall 9 and a transverse wall it), closing the passage on one side of wall 9. The open ended passage through the plug on the other side of wall 9 receives and frictionally retains a pair of elongated sheet metal members 11, 12 constituting a reed assembly. Member 11 is pressed to give it the dished, boat-like shape shown and is of metal thick enough to render the member substantially rigid. Member 12 is a fiat strip covering the concave face of member 11 and is of thin elastically flexible metal. Conveniently members 11 and 12 are inserted in the plug 7 and the assembly is then inserted as a unit into the tube 5. At about the centre of its length member 12 is held frictionally clamped between member 11 and the wall 9 of plug 7 by virtue of the elasticity of the tube 5, which since of elastically expansible plastic will give slightly under pressure, but will seek to regain its undistorted form, thus causing a gripping, but the two end portions of member 12 constitute otherwise free tongues. The passage of air through the bore of housing 5 in either direction will cause one or other of these tongues to vibrate and produce a sound.

Fitted within the larger end of tube 5 is a closure member 13, formed of material similar to that of the tube. This closure member includes a tapered tubular stem 14, which is cemented into an enlarged end portion of the tube bore so that the two parts are securely assembled together to form a tubular housing. At the outer end of this closure member is an external annular flange 15 and a pair of spaced parallel bars 16 which extend transversely across the bore of the member. The bars i6 prevent 3,d75,3l7 Patented Jan. 29, lQfiS the withdrawal from the housing oi'the reed constituted by members 11 and 12, but do not appreciably interfere with the passage'oi air through the bore of the device.

The flanges 6 and 15 of'the tube and closure member define between'them an annular recess which can be used to assist the secure attachment of the sounding device to a toy. As shown in FIGURE 4, a hollow toy figure, formed of rubber or a flexible plastic composition, has itswall 17 shaped to provide an open ended, inwardly projecting sleeve 18 which will receive and frictionally retain the sounding device shown in FIGURES 1 to 3. On squeezing 'and releasing the toy, air is caused to flow outwardly and inwardly through the sounding device, producing a sound. To assist in the secure retention of the sounding device within the top, the inner surface of the sleeve'ls is formed with an annular rib 15; when the sounding device is forced into the'sleeves this rib is expanded by the conically bevelled face of flange 6 and then contracts to engage in the groove between flanges 6 and 15, as shown, rendering the sounding device virtually irremovable by a child.

The modified sound producing device illustrated in FIG- URES 5 anddcomprises an open'ended tube 20 and a closure member 21. The tube is moulded from a suitable plastic'compositio'n the same as that described above in connection with tube 5 of FIGURES 1-4 and includes a frusto-conical portion 22 and an inwardly directed annular flange 23. The tube includes a chordally directed wall 24 and a segmental transverse wall 25. The walls 24 and '25 are located approximately half way along the length of the tube and are formed integrally therewith. A reed assembly comprising members 11 and i2 is located within the tubewhere it is wedged betwcn the wall 24 and the inner cylindrical surface of the tubeso as to elastically grip members 11 and 12 by virtue of the elasticity of the outer open tube as already described with regard to FIG URES 1-4.

The closure member 21, which is made of a resilient plastic material, is generally tubular and comprises outwardly extending flanges 26, 27 and 28. The member is assembled with the tube Ztlby pushing it axially into the bore of the tube until the flange 23 snaps into the recess formed between flanges 27 and 28. The flanges 26 and 27 between them form an annular recess by means of which the device can be secured to a toy.

The closure member is provided with a fine mesh gauze 29, the function of which will presently be described, the gauze 'being'retained by means of intersecting bars 30 formed integrally with the closure member.

FIGURE 8 shows the device of FIGURES 5 and 6 incorporated into a soft toy. The toy comprises a shaped continuous outer covering 31 filled with a soft stufiing material 32. A hollow resiliently compressible ball 33 is embedded in the stuffing and spaced from the covering. The wall of the air ball is apertured to receive the sound producing device, which is secured in position by pushing it into the aperture so that the material surrounding the aperture is expanded by the conical portion 22 before snapping into the annular recess formed by flanges 26 and 27. By squeezing and releasing the toy, the ball 33 can be compressed and allowed to re-expand, thereby causing air to pass through the sounding device. The gauze 29 prevents the entry into the housing of the sounding device of pieces of the stufiing material which would tend to clog the reed assembly.

In the device illustrated in FIGURE 7, which is otherwise similar to that shown in FIGURE 5, a perforated diaphragm 34 is formed across the bore of the closure member, this diaphragm serving the functions of preventing both the withdrawal of the reed assembly through the closure member and the entry of stufling or other extraneous material into the tubular housing, thus rendering the provision of a gauge mesh unnecessary.

it will be appreciated that the various constructional features of the devices illustrated in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are applicable either singly or in combination to the device shown in FlGURES l, 2 and 3. Other modifications are also possible, for instance the bars 16 (FlGURE 2) and 3% (FEGURE 6) can be replaced in each case by a single centrally located bar serving the same functions.

I claim:

1. A sound producing device comprising: a housing including an open ended tube of elastically expansible material having a tapered bore, and a closure member secured in the larger diameter end of said bore, said member including a transverse portion extending across said bore and apertured for the passage of. air therethrough, said closure member including a pair of spaced outwardly directed flanges defining an annular mounting recess therebet-ween; a reed assembly wedged intermediate the ends of said tapered bore, said assembly consisting of a substantially rigid reed supporting member and a thin resiliently flexible reed, said reed being gripped against a wall portion of the tube by the elasticity of the wall of said tube; and a fine mesh gauze extending across said bore between said reed assembly and said transverse portion, said closure member preventing withdrawal of said reed assembly and said gauze through the larger diameter end of said tube.

2. A sound producing device comprising: a housing including an open ended tube of elastically expansible material having a larger bore end and a smaller bore end with a linearly tapered bore thereinbetween, a flat based conical flange at the larger bore end extending outwardly of said tube and having its flat base in the plane of said larger bore end, and a closure member wedged tightly into said larger bore end and having a generally tubular body portion inserted into said larger bore end, said body portion extending upwardly from said flat conical flange base and terminating in an outwardly extending semitoroidal flange having a curved upper surface and a fiat lower surface facing said flat conical flange base, and a pair of rounded bar members extending transversely in parallel relation across the bore of said closure member from one side of said semi-toroidal flange to the other and coplanar therewith and symmetrically spaced one on either side of the axis of said closure member bore, the flat conical flange base and the flat lower surface of the semi-toroidal flange defining an annular mounting recess therebetween, a reed assembly wedged intermediate the ends of said tapered bore, said assembly consisting of a substantially rigid boat-shaped reed supporting member and a thin resiliently flexible reed, said supporting memher and reed being held within said housing by a plug having a tubular outer wall, a chord wall separating said plug into a larger and a smaller chamber, and a web covering the portion of said plug nearer said larger diarneter bore housing end, said larger chamber accommodating said boat-shaped supporting member with its rounded portion against the rounded portion of said chamber and its lips pressing against the mid-point of said reed at its outer edges, said reed in turn being pressed against the chord portion of said plug, the entire plug assembly pressing in upon said boat-shaped supporting member and reed at their midpoints by said plug larger chamber walls by the elasticity of said housing tube, and a fine mesh gauze extending across said bore between said reed assembly and said bars, said reed assembly extending approximately half way into said closure member bore, said closure member preventing withdrawal of said reed assembly and said gauze through the larger bore end of said tube.

3. A sound-producing device comprising a slightly conical open-ended tube having at its wide end an outwardly directed flange forming a lower clamping surface, a reed assembly comprising a generally boat-shaped and substantially rigid member and a thin, substantially flat, resilient reed member disposed alongside said boat-shaped memher on the open side thereof to cover the same, a support member of shorter length than said tube secured in the tube intermediate the ends thereof, said support member having an opening therethrough'extending lengthwise of the tube, said reed assembly extending through said support member opening and being frictionally held therein, and a closure member at the wide end of the conical tube, said closure member having a tubular portion open at one end and closed at the other end by an outwardly flanged apertured end wall, the tubular portion being frictionally fitted in the wide end of the tube, the flange of said end wall forming an upper clamping surface, said flanges of the tube and the end wall defining therebetween an annular clamping recess for mounting the device in an opening of a toy.

4. A sound producing device according to claim 3 wherein the inner wall of said tube is shouldered at the wide end thereof, said shoulder in the tube forming an abutment for the inner end of the tubular portion of the closure member to limit the depth of insertion thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,359,398 Levine Nov. 16, 1920 1,621,157 Du Bois Mar. 15, 1927 2,598,956 Wintriss June 3, 1952 2,763,960 Wintriss Sept. 25, 1956 

3. A SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICE COMPRISING A SLIGHTLY CONICAL OPEN-ENDED TUBE HAVING AT ITS WIDE END AN OUTWARDLY DIRECTED FLANGE FORMING A LOWER CLAMPING SURFACE, A REED ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A GENERALLY BOAT-SHAPED AND SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID MEMBER AND A THIN, SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT, RESILIENT REED MEMBER DISPOSED ALONGSIDE SAID BOAT-SHAPED MEMBER ON THE OPEN SIDE THEREOF TO COVER THE SAME, A SUPPORT MEMBER OF SHORTER LENGTH THAN SAID TUBE SECURED IN THE TUBE INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF, SAID SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF THE TUBE, SAID REED ASSEMBLY EXTENDING THROUGH SAID SUPPORT MEMBER OPENING AND BEING FRICTIONALLY HELD THEREIN, AND A CLOSURE MEMBER AT THE WIDE END OF THE CONICAL TUBE, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER HAVING A TUBULAR PORTION OPEN AT ONE END AND CLOSED AT THE OTHER END BY AN OUTWARDLY FLANGED APERTURED END WALL, THE TUBULAR PORTION BEING FRICTIONALLY FITTED IN THE WIDE END OF THE TUBE, THE FLANGE OF SAID END WALL FORMING AN UPPER CLAMPING SURFACE, SAID FLANGES OF THE TUBE AND THE END WALL DEFINING THEREBETWEEN AN ANNULAR CLAMPING RECESS FOR MOUNTING THE DEVICE IN AN OPENING OF A TOY. 